First 2021s Have Arrived

Took the family down to Santa Barbara, CA this weekend for the first true vacation we've had since 2019. Lots of eating in the Airbnb apartment; walking, hiking and a little bit of socially-distanced shopping. 'Twas whilst doing the latter that I stumbled upon a comics/games/cards store just off of State Street that happened to have 2021 Topps Series 1 in stock - and what do you know, I bought three packs!

I wasn't necessarily looking for any "major gains" with this buy - and I didn't really get any - just hoping for some fun pack ripping. I didn't get any autographs nor parallels, unless that silver Shane Bieber you see below counts as a parallel (it might; I haven't done my research). But I did grab a few dudes. I got a Tatis. That made me happy. I got my guy Jo Adell. That made me even happier. I grabbed a couple of San Francisco Giants. I got both Luis Patino and Blake Snell, who were essentially traded for each other just a few weeks ago.

I got a Rickey Henderson buyback insert card. There were some journeymen that went straight into the trade box. There were some other guys. Hey, it was only three packs. But let me say this - like Nick at Dime Boxes, I'm really excited that these have borders; perhaps that's why they're the first Topps flagship design I've enjoyed in years. Also, like Nick, I don't like how tough it is to read the player's name.....but overall, I dig this design. I'm not going to collect it or anything, but it is absolutely passable. Extra points for advanced sabermetric stats on the back of the cards.

Here are a few of the other ringers that I rung up.